Top 5 Craziest Montreal Canadiens Hockey Riots In The City

The ridiculousness is real.

When the Montreal Canadiens lose an important game, the fans quietly go home and spend a quiet evening in. When the Montreal Canadiens win, the fans riot.I can't explain it either.

On one hand, we recognise that violence is completely unacceptable. A lot of people have been hurt by both the rioting itself and the police reactions. Reactions like these give the city a bad name. Most fans know that hockey isn't worth hurting people or businesses over, but some greedy assholes still use celebrations as an excuse to rob, assault, and vandalise our city. Don't be one of those people. Off the rink, real actions have real consequences.

4. 2008 - Montreal vs. Boston, First Round Win

$500,000 in damages. This was pretty violent- the mob set fire to police cruisers and looted stores on St-Catherine street. Interesting to note - none of the people arrested had game tickets on them, proving that fans are fans, and looters are looters.

3. 2010 - Montreal vs. Pittsburgh, Second Round Win

One of those friendly happy riots that suddenly turned violent. 25 arrests made, which is genuinely not bad, considering that 21,000 people spilled out of the Bell Centre. Same old story otherwise - police, tear gas, baton bashing, etc. You know, the usual.

Ranking third for this adorable mental image alone: "The vandalism occurred after the Ste-Catherine Street area had already mostly emptied out, following a family-friendly scene where a little girl hoisted a makeshift Stanley Cup from atop her father’s shoulders to the cheers of onlookers."

2. 1955 - Maurice Richard Suspension, Regular Season

$100,000 in damages, which is about $709,000 today. Where do I start? In 1955, then NHL president Clarence Campbell suspended Maurice Richard for the rest of the season.

Depending on who you ask, it's because he -

a) gently bumped into a lineman, while being French-Canadian

b) brutally assaulted a lineman (and being French had nothing to do with it).

Either way, this was the first major hockey riot in Montreal, and a milestone of Quebec nationalism. In any case, a crowd of near 6,000 assembled outside the Montreal Forum, holding signs that said "Vive Richard" (Long live Richard), "No Richard, no Cup", "Our national sport destroyed". People threw trash towards where Clarence Campbell was sitting. Someone set off a tear gas bomb inside the arena. A fan pretended to be a friend, dodged security, and while shaking hands he attempted to punch Campbell in the face.